World Famous Comics: Games for Windows: The Official Magazine
Games for Windows: The Official Magazine
From: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company Average Rating: Binding: Magazine First Issue Lead Time: 6-10 weeks Format: Magazine Subscription Issues Per Year: 12 Label: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company Magazine Type: Consumer magazine Number of Issues: 12 Release Date: November 23, 2001 Subscription Length: 365 days
Title has been Discontinued Don't bother subscribing to this one. Their last issue was Issue 17, April/May 2008.
Don't Order -- the magazine is now defunct Amazon is being a little slow. The print magazine went defunct about a week ago (April 7th -ish?).
Once Great Now but a former shadow of itself. This publication has lost all its original identity and all of its integrity.
Little more than a front for the gaming industry and Microsoft, the information presented is no longer to be trusted, what little there is of it.
Pass this one by, it is no longer worth the paper it is printed upon.
RIP Computer Gaming World, we will miss you.
Excellent This is one of the best PC gaming mags out there. PC Gamer has sinked so low that I'm amazed the thing is still being published.
I usually enjoy reading general articles on the gaming industry more so than reviews. And GFW offers such articles for my reading pleasure on every issue. Reviews are not usually biased, and they are constructive. Sure, there is the occasional "odd" verdict (i.e. they (Sean) gave Bioshock 10/10 which is stupid), but what magazine doesn't have them? But the actual review is more important than the verdict, anyway, and they are nicely written (I just wish they compared the game being reviewed with similar previously released games a bit more often).
Also, the GFW editors are awesome (their GFW Podcast is THE best PC gaming podcast on the net.)
If you are a true PC gamer, then this mag is for you.
Once great mag is now limping badly Games for Windows took the place of Computer Gaming World (CGW), which was a respected magazine for many years. Unfortunately, the final year under the CGW banner was marked by such missteps as deciding to no longer review games, but rather summarize reviews that had already been posted on the Internet by others. The magazine also declined to put out any awards for 2006 games as they said others had already done so. At the same time, they began covering bizarre topics of little interest to most that had nothing to do with computer games. It was literally as though the staff was embarrassed to cover computer games and wanted to move on to other things... completely ignoring the fact that readers weren't looking for socio-political and religious commentary but news and views on games played on the computer.
After a good deal of reader complaints, the magazine shifted gears once again and also re-launched under the name "Games for Windows: The Official Magazine." Why the editors saw fit to compromise the perception of integrity for the right to be Microsoft's house organ is not much of a mystery (sponsorship dollars) but it is an unfortunate choice. The only positive is that they used the re-launch to once again write actual game reviews and most of the nonsense articles have gone away. The content is still not as strong as it used to be. One example is the Tom vs. Bruce column, which humorously depicts two gamers playing head-to-head in an RTS or other competitive game, usually without reading the rules or preparing. In the last few months the column has been used once as little more than an ad for World of Warcraft and once as an ad for casual games like Peggle. Uggh. Tom vs. Bruce has long been my favorite part of the magazine (and one of the few really distinctive aspects of any gaming magazine) and now even it has been largely ruined.
In summary, Games for Windows has improved some since the lowest point at the end of the CGW run. It still suffers from editorial direction that seems determined to "fix" what wasn't broken in the first place. PC Gamer [1-year] has been more consistent and solid for the past two years and is probably more deserving of your subscription dollars.
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Trevor
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